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EMANCIPATION! 



ITS POLICY AND NECESSITY AS A WAK MEASURE FOR 
THE SUPPRESSION OF THE REBELLION. 



SPEECH OF HON. CHARLES SUMNER, 

AT FANEUIL HALL, OCT. 6, 1862. 



Fellow-Citizens of Massachusetts: — 

Meetings of the people in ancient Athens were opened with these 
-j^ords : — '' May the Gods doom to perdition that man and all his race, 
who, on this occasion, shall speak, act, or contrive anything against the 
Commonwealth." With such an imprecation all were summoned to the 
duties of the citizen. But duties became urgent in proportion to perils. 
J£ ever there was occasion for these solemn words it is now, when the 
country is in danger, — when the national capital itself is menaced, — 
when all along the loyal border, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian ter- 
ritories west of the Mssissippi, barbarian hordes, under some Alaric of the 
South, are marshalling their forces, and when death is knocking at the 
doors, of so many happy homes. K ever there was occasion when country 
might claim the best and most self-forgetful effort of all, it is now. Each 
in his way must act. Each must do what he can ; the youthful and strong 
by giving themselves to the service ; the weak, if in no other way, by 
scraping lint. Such is the call of patriotism. This country must be saved. 

GOOD MEN AND GERMANS AND IRISH FOR THE WAR. 

Among the omens which I hall with gladness is the union which now 
happily prevails among good men in support alike of the State and Na- 
tional Governments, — forgetting that they were Democrats, forgetting 
that they were Whigs, and disregarding old party names, to remember 



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only the duties of the citizen. Anotlier sign, not less cheering, is to be 
found in the generous devotion -which all among us of foreign birth have 
offered to their adopted country. Germans fight as for their fatherland, 
and Irislimen fight as for Ireland ; nor can our cause be less dear to the 
latter, now that the spirit of Grattan and O'Connell has entered into it. 

"no party." 

Surely, this is no time for the strife of party. Its jealousies and antipa- 
thies are now more than ever irrational. Its clamors of opposition are now 
more than ever unpatriotic. Unhappily, there are some to whom its bitter, 
unforgiving temper has become so controlling, that, even at this moment, 
they would rather enlist to put down a political enemy than to put down 
the rebel enemy of their country ; they would rather hang Henry Wilson 
or John A. Andrew than hang Jefferson Davis or Robert Toombs. Such 
persons, with all their sweltered venom, ai-e to be found here in Massachu- 
setts. Assuming the badge of " no party," they are ready for any party, 
new or old, by which their prejudices may be gratified, thus verifying the 
pungent words of Col. Benton : — " Wherever you will show me a man 
with the word 'no party' in his mouth, I will show you a man that figures 
at the head or dangles at the tail of the most inveterate party that ever 
existed." Of course, such persons cannot be expected to take part in a 
meeting like the present, which seeks to unite rather than to divide, while 
it rallies all to the support of the President, and of that policy of freedom 
which he has proclaimed. 

PROCLAMATION OF THE PRESIDENT. 

Thank God, that I live to enjoy this day ! Thank God, that my eyes 
have not closed without seeing this great salvation. The skies are brighter 
and the air is purer, now that slavery has been handed over to judgment. 

By the proclamation of the President, all persons held as slaves January 
1st, 1863, within any State or designated part of a State, the people 
whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall b^then, 
thenceforward and forever free ; and the Executive Government of the 
United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will 
recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or 
acts to repress such persons or any of them in any efforts they may make 
for their actual freedom. But beyond these most effective words, which do 
not go into operation before the new year, there are other words of imme- 
diate operation, constituting a present edict of emancipation. TheTresi- 
dent recites the recent acts of Congress applicable to this question, and 
calls upon all persons in the military or naval service to observe, obey, and 
enforce them. But these acts provide that all slaves of rebels, taking 



m lEXCIfANQE 



refuo-e within the lines of our army, all slaves captured from rebels or de- 
serted by them, and all slaves found within any place occupied by rebel 
forces and afterwards occupied by the forces of the United States, shall be 
forever free of servitude, and not again held as slaves ; and these acts fur- 
ther provide, that no person in the military or naval service shall, under 
any pretence whatever, assume to decide on the validity of any claim to a 
slave, or to surrender any such person to his claimant, on pain of being 
dismissed from the service : so that by these acts, now proclaimed by the 
President, freedom is practically secured to all who can find shelter within 
our lines, and the glorious flag of the Union, wherever it floats, becomes the 
flag of Freedom. 

STAND BY THE PRESIDENT. 

Thank God for what has beep already done, and let us all take heart as 
we go forward to uphold this great edict. For myself I accept the Procla- 
mation without note or comment. It is enough for me, that in the exercise 
of the war power it strikes at the origin and mainspring of this rebellion ; 
for I have never concealed the conviction that it mattered little where we 
struck slavery, provided only that we struck sincerely and in earnest. So 
is it all connected, that the whole must suffer with every part, an i the 
words of the poet will be verified, that " whatever link you strike, tenth or 
ten thousandth, breaks the chain ahke." 

PERSONAL — CHALLENGES SCRUTINY. 

On this most interesting occasion, so proper for gratitude, it is difficult 
to see anything but the cause; and yet, appearing before you on the 
invitation of a Committee of the Commonwealth, I must not forget that I 
owe this privilege to my public character as a Senator of Massachusetts. 
It is in this character that I have been often invited before ; but now the 
invitation has more than its accustomed significance, for, at the close of a 
long period of public service, it brings me face to face with my constituents. 
In a different condition of the country, I could not decline the opportunity 
which is afforded of reviewing the relations between us ; of showing at 
least how you took me from private station, all untried, and gave me one of 
your highest trusts, and how this trust was enhanced by the generosity 
with whieli you sustained me against obloquy and vindictive assault, espe- 
cially by vour unparalleled indulgence to me throughout a protracted disa- 
bility ; and, perhaps, might I be so bold, of presenting for your consideration 
some sketch of what I have attempted, conscious that, if not always suc- 
cessful, I have been at all times faithful to my convictions, and faithful also 
to your interests, sparing nothing of time or effort, and making up by 
industry for any lack of abOity, so that, during a service of more than 
eleven years, I have never once visited home while Congress was in session, 



or been absent for a single day, unless when compelled by illness ; and 
during the session which has just closed, filled with most laborious duties, 
I was not out of my seat, from beginning to end, for a single hour. But 
this is not the time for such a review. I have no heart for it, while my 
country is in danger. And yet, I shall not lose tiie occasion to challenge 
the scrutiny of all, even here in this commercial metropolis, where the in- 
terests of business are sometimes placed above all other interests. Frankly 
and fearlessly I make my appeal. In all simplicity I ask you to consider 
what I have done, as your servant, whether in the Senate or out of the 
Senate, in matters of legislation or in matters of business. If there is any 
one disposed to criticise or complain, let him be heard. Let the whole 
record of my public acts be opened, and let any of the numerous per- 
sons who have come to me on business testify. I know too well the strength 
of my case to shrink from any inquiry, even though stimulated by the ani- 
mosity of political warfare. 

DEFENDS HIMSELF AGAINST TWO ACCUSATIONS. 

But there are two accusations, often repeated, to which I reply on the 
spot, and I do so with less hesitation because the topics are germane to this 
occasion. The first is, that from my place in the Senate I early proclaimed 
Slavery to be Barbarism. Never shall the cause of freedom go by default, 
if I can help it ; and I rejoice that, on that occasion, in presence of the 
slave-holding conspirators, vaunting the ennobling character of slavery, I 
used no soft words. It is true that, in direct reply to most offensive 
assumptions, I proclaimed slavery barbarous in origin ; barbarous in law ; 
barbarous in all its pretensions ; barbarous in the instruments it employs ; 
barbarous in consequences ; barbarous in spirit ; barbarous wherever it 
shows itself, while it breeds barbarians, and develops everywhere, alike in 
the individual and in the society to which he belongs, the essential elements 
of barbarism. It is true that on the same occasion I portrayed slavery as 
founded in violence and sustained only by violence, and declared that such 
a wrong must, by a sure law of compensation, blast the master as well as the 
slave ; blast the land on which they live ; blast the community of which 
they are a part ; blast the government which does not forbid the outrage ; 
and the longer it exists, and the more completely it prevails, must its blast- 
ing influence penetrate the whole social system. And was I not right ? 
Since then the testimony has been overwhelming. A committee of the 
Senate has made a report, which has been extensively circulated, on the 
barbarities of this rebellion. You know the whole story to which each 
day testifies. It is in some single incident that you may see the low-water 
mark of social life ; and I know nothing in which the barbarism of slavery is 
more completely exhibited than in the fate of our brave soldiers, dug up 



from honorable graves, where at last they had found rest, that their bones 
might be carved into keepsakes and their skulls into drinking-cups to 
gratify the malignant hate of slave-masters. 

The other accusation is similar in character. It is said that I have too 
often introduced the Slavery Question. At this moment, seeing what 
slavery has done, I doubt if you will not rather say that I have introduced 
it too seldom. If on this account I had neglected any single interest of my 
constituents ; if I had been less strenuous whenever the foreign relations, 
or manufactures, or commerce, or finances of the country were involved ; 
if I had failed to take my part in all that concerns the people of Massa- 
chusetts, and in all that is embraced within the manifold duties of a Sena- 
tor ; then, indeed, I might be open to condemnation. But you will not 
regret that your representative, who has been faithful in all other things, 
has been always constant and earnest against slavery, and that he announcd 
from the beginning the magnitude of the question, and our duties with 
regard to it. Say what you will, the slave is the liumblest and grandest 
figure of our times. What humility ! "What grandeur ! both alike illimit- 
able. In his presence all other questions are so petty that for a public man 
to be wrong with regard to him is to be wholly wrong. How then did I 
err ? The cause would have justified a better pertinacity than I can boast. 
In the Senate of Rome, the elder Cato, convinced that peace was possible 
only by the destruction of Carthage, concluded all his speeches, on every 
matter of debate, by the well-known words, " But whatever you may think 
of the question under consideration, this I know, Carthage must be de- 
stroyed." I have never read that the veteran senator was condemned for 
patriotic ardor. With stronger reason far I too might have cried always, 
" This I know, slavery must be destroyed " — Delenda est servitudo. But 
while seeking to limit and constrain slavery, I have never proposed any- 
thing except in strictest conformity with the Constitution, for I have al- 
ways recognized the Constitution as my guide, which I was bound in all 
respects to follow. 

Such are the accusations to which I now thus briefly reply. Now that we 
are all united in the policy of emancipation, they become of little conse- 
quence ; for even if I were once alone I am no longer so. I place myself, 
with the loyal multitudes of the North, firmly and sincerely by the side of 
the President, where, indeed, I have ever been. 

QUOTES BURKE. 

If you will bear with me yet longer in allusions which I make with reluc- 
tance, I shall quote as my unanswerable defence the words of Edmund 
Burke when addressing his constituents at Bristol : — 

"And now, gentlemen, on this serious day, when I come, as it were, to 
make up my account with you, let me take to myself some degree of hon- 



est pride on tlie nature of the charges that are against me. I do not stand 
here accused of venality or of neglect of duty. It is not said, that, in the 
long period of my service, I have in a single instance sacrificed the slight- 
est of your interests to my ambition or to my fortune. It is not alleged, 
that to gratify any anger or revenge of my own or my party I have had a 
share in wronging or oppressing any description of men, or any one man 
in any description. No ! the charges against me are all of one kind, that I 
have pushed the principles of general justice and benevolence too far; 
farther than a cautious policy would warrant ; and farther than the opin- 
ions of many would go along with me. In every accident which may 
happen through life, in pain, in sorrow, in depression and distress I will 
call to mind this accusation, and be comforted." 

Among the passages in eloquence which can never die, I know none 
more beautiful or heroic. If I invoke its protection, it is with the conscious- 
ness that, however unlike its author in genius and fame, I am not unlike in 
the accusations to which I am exposed. 

PROGRESS DURING THIS YEAR. 

Fellow Citizens: A year has passed since I addressed you; but during 
this time what events for warning and encouragement. Amidst vicissitudes 
of war, the cause of Human Freedom has steadily and grandly advanced ; 
not, perhaps, as you could desire, yet it is the only cause which has not 
failed. Slavery and the black laws all abolished in the national capital ; 
slavery interdicted in all the national territory ; Hayti and Liberia recog- 
nized as independent republics in the family of nations ; the slave-trade 
placed under the ban of a new treaty with Great Britain ; all persons in 
the military and naval service prohibited from returning slaves, or sitting 
in judgment on the claim of a master ; the slaves of rebels emancipated 
by coming within our lines ; a tender of compensation for»the abolition of 
slaves, — such are some of the triumphs of freedom in the recent Congress. 
Amidst the doubts and uncertainties of the present hour, let us think of 
these things and be comforted. I cannot forget that when I last spoke to 
you, I urged the liberation of the slaves of rebels, and especially that our 
officers should not be permitted to surrender to slavery any human being 
who sought shelter within our lines, and I further suggested, if need be, a 
bridge of gold for the retreating fiend. And now all that I then proposed 
is embodied in the legislation of the country, as the supreme law of the 
land. 

MILITARY NECCESSITY. 

It was simply as a military necessity that I urged these measures ; it is as 
a military necessity that I now uphold them, and insist upon their complet- 
est and most generous execution, so that they shall have the largest scope 
and efficacy. Not as an abolitionist, not as an anti-slavery man, not even 
as a philanthi'opist, if I may claim that honored name, do I now speak. I 



forget, for the moment, all the unutterable wrong of slavery, and all the 

transcendent blessings of freedom ; for they do not belong to this argument. 

I think only of my country, menaced by rebellion, and ask how it shall be 

saved. But I have no policy, no theory, no resolutions to support ; 

nothing which I Avill not gladly abandon if you will show me anything 

better ; 

If you know better rules than these, be free, 
Impart them ; but if not, use these with me. 

OBJECT OF THE WAR. 

And now what is the object of the war? This question is often asked, 
and the answer is not always candid. It is sometimes said that it is to 
abolish slavery ; here is a mistake or a misrepresentation. It is sometimes 
said, in flash language, that the object is " the Constitution as it is," and 
" the Union as it was." Here is another mistake or misrepresention, which 
is more offensive, when it is known that by " the Constitution as it is " is 
meant simply the right to hold and hunt slaves ; and by "the Union as it 
was " is meant those halcyon days of pro-slavery democracy, when the bal- 
lot-box was destroyed in Kansas, when freedom of debate was menaced in 
the Senate, and when chains were put upon the Boston Court House. 
Not for any of these things is this war waged. Not to abolish slavery, or 
to establish slavery, but simply to put down the rebellion. But this ques- 
tion occurs : How can this object be best accomplished ? 

In discussing this question with proper frankness, I shall develop and vin- 
dicate that policy of which the President's Proclamation is the herald, and 
to which his administration is publicly pledged. The administration be- 
longs to us, and we belong to the administration. My aim will be to bring 
the administration and the people nearer together, by showing the ground 
on which they must meet, for the sake of the republic, and that it may not 
perish beneath felon blows. 

WAR MUST BE ENDED, PEACE, PEACE, PEACE. 

I start, of course, with the assumption, in which you will all unite, that 
this war must be brought to a close. It must not be allowed to drag 
its slow length along, bloody, and fruitless, except with death. Lives 
enough have been sacrificed ; graves enough have been filled ; homes 
enough have been emptied ; patriot soldiers enough have been sent back 
halt and maimed, with one leg or one arm ; crutches enough have been 
made. Nor is this all ; treasure enough has been expended. It is com- 
mon to think only of the national debt, which is now swelling to unnatural 
proportions ; but this will be small by the side of the fearful sum total of 
loss from the destruction of property, the derangement of business, and 



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change of productive to unproductive industry. Even if we do not accept 
the conclusions of an ingenious calculator, who places this damage at ten 
thousand millions of dollars, we must confess that it is an immensity, which, 
like the numbers representing sidereal spaces, the imagination refuses to 
grasp. To stop this infinity of waste there must be peace ; to stop this 
cruel slaughter there must be peace. In the old wars between king and 
parliament, which rent England, the generous Falkland cried from his soul, 
Peace, peace, peace, and history has gratefully recorded his words. Never 
did he utter this cry with more earnestness than I do now. But how shall 
this blessing be secured ? 

NO SEPARATION OF THE STATES. 

I start, also, with the further assumption that there can be no separation 
of these States. Foreign nations may predict what rebels threaten ; but 
this result is now impossible. Pray, good sirs, where will you run the 
boundary line ? Shall it be the cotton line ? Shall it embrace Virginia in 
whole or part ? How about Tennessee ? Kentucky ? Or shall it be the 
most natural line of cleavage, the slave line. And how will you adjust the 
navigation of the Mississippi, and the whole question of slavery ? And 
what principles, commercial and political, shall be established between the 
two governments ? But do not deceive yourselves into the idea that 
peace founded on separation can be anything but a delusion and a snare. 
Separation is interminable war, — " still beginning, never ending," — worse 
than the forays which ravaged the Scottish border, or the Tartar invasions 
which harassed China, until its famous wall was built fifteen hundred miles 
long, and so tliick that six horsemen can ride upon it abreast. War will 
be chronic, and we must all sleep on our arms. Better that it should be 
all at once rather than that it should be diffused over a generation. If 
blood must be shed, better for a year than for an age. 

But if there be anything in the Monroe doctrine, if we could not ac- 
commodate ourselves to the foothold of Europe on this continent, how can 
we recognize on our borders a malignant slave empire, with slavery as its 
boasted corner-stone, constituting what Shakspeare calls an " impudent 
nation," embittered and enraged against us, without law, without human- 
ity, and without morals, — a mighty Blue Beard's C hamber, — an enormous 
House of 111 Fame ? Surely we would not allow the old Kingdom of the 
Assassins to be revived at our side. But our rebels are as bad. 

SEPARATION IS CHAOS. 

Nor can you recognize such a separation without delivering over this 
cherished Union to chaos. If the rebel States are allowed to go, who can 
be retained ? It is true, that there can be no constitutional right to break 
up the Constitution ; but the precedent which we shall unhappily recognize 



9 



■will unsettle this whole fabric of States. Therefore, fellow-citizens, there 
can be no separation. But how to prevent it, in other words, how to ham- 
string the rebellion, and conquer a peace, — this is the question. 

REBELS MUST BE SUBDUED, THEN CONCILIATED. 

The rebels are in arms, aroused, at home, on thoir own soil, and resolved 
not to yield. Nothing less than independence will satisfy them ; if the 
war continues, I know not that they will be content with this. Two poli- 
cies are presented on our side, — one a policy which looks primarily to 
rebel conciliation, and the other a policy which looks primarily to rebel 
submission. And yet both of these have the same elements, although in 
inverse order. The first begins with conciliation in order to end with sub- 
mission ; which is the cart before the horse. The second begins with sub- 
mission in order to end with conciliation. The question between them is 
whether conciUation shall precede or follow submission. Conciliation is 
always proper where it is possible ; but it is now obviously impossible. If 
anj^body believes, at this stage, that any words or acts of conciliation ; any 
forbearance on our part ; any hesitation in the exercise of the sternest 
rights of war, will help us to victory or contribute to put down the rebel- 
lion, let me not enter into that man's counsels, for they can end in nothing 
but shame and disaster. I find that they who talk most against the coer- 
cion of rebels, and the coercion of States, are indifierent to the coercion of 
four millions of people, men, women, and children, to work without wages 
under the discipline of the lash. Without hesitation I say, that the rebels 
are to be subdued, call it coercion or subjugation, which you will ; and our 
war has this direct object. With victory will come conciliation, clemency, 
amnesty. But first victory. 

To obtain victory, two things are needed : first, a precise comprehension 
of the case, and, secondly, vigor of conduct. One will not do without the 
other. It will not be enough to comprehend the case unless you are ready 
to treat it with corresponding vigor. And it will not be enough to have 
vigor unless you discern clearly how the case shall be treated. To this end 
there must be statesmen as well as generals. 

DIAGNOSIS OF THE CASE. 

The first duty of the good physician is to understand the condition of his 
patient ; whether it is a case of medicine or surgery ; of cutaneous eruption 
or deep-seated cancer. This is called the diagnosis. But the statesman, in 
all the troubles of his country, has the same preliminary duty. He, too, 
must see whether it is a case for medicine or surgery, of cutaneous eruption 
or deep-seated cancer. And all that he does must be precisely according 
to his judgment of the case. Of course, if the diagnosis fails, the whole 
treatment will be a failure. 



10 



ACTION, ACTION, ACTION. 

Next to a comprehension of the case is vigor in conduct, which is more 
needful in proportion as the case becomes desperate. This must be not 
only in the field, but also in counsel ; not only against tlie serried front of 
the enemy, but against those more fatal influences whicli come from the 
lack of comprehension or the lack of courage. The same vigor which we 
require in our generals must be required also in our statesmen ; the same 
spirit must animate both. No folding of the hands ; no putting off till to- 
mori'ow what can be done to-day ; no hesitation ; no timidity ; but action^ 
action, action, straight-forward, manly, God-like action. It is easy to see 
that this is required in the field ; but it is no less required in every sphere 
of the government, from the President to the paymaster. 

THUNDERBOLTS. 

In war there are some who content themselves with triumphs of pru- 
dence instead of triumphs of courage, and sjiend much time in trying how 
not to be beaten, instead of how to beat. They are content to forego vic- 
tory, if they can only escape defeat — forgetting that Fabius was only a 
defender, and not a conqueror ; that a policy which may be fit at one time 
may be unfit at another ; that a war waged in an enemy's country cannot 
be defensive, nor can it prevail by any procrastination. People at home on 
their own soil can afford to wait. Every month, every week, every day, is 
an ally. But we cannot wait. Not a moment can be spared. It was not 
in this way that those ancient commanders conducted to whom was given 
the title of the " two thunderbolts of war." It was not in this way that 
Napoleon defeated the Austrian forces at Marengo, and shattered the Prus- 
sian power on the field of Jena. 

But there are " thunderbolts " of the cabinet as well as of war. The 
elder Pitt, who was only a civilian, infused his own conquering soul into the 
British arms, making them irresistible ; and the French Carnot, while in 
the cabinet, was said to have organized victory. Such is the statesmanship 
which is now needed for us. And there must be generals who will carry 
forward all that the most courageous statesmanship directs. 

, APPEAL FOR OUR SOLDIERS. 

Armies and men we have of rarest quality. Better never entered a field 
or kept step to drum-beat. Intelligent and patriotic, they have left pleas- 
ant homes in order to offer themselves, if need be, for their country. They 
are no common hirelings, mere food for powder, but generous citizens, who 
have determined that their country shall be saved. Away in camp, or bat- 
tle, or hospital, let them not be forgotten. But better than gratitude even, 
we owe them the protection which comes from good generals and cour- 



11 



agoous counsels. O God ! let them not be led to useless slaughter like 
sheep, and let them not be compelled to take the hazard of death, from cli- 
mate and exposure, as well as from ball and bayonet, -without giving them 
at once all the allies which can be rallied to their support. In the name of 
humanity, and for the sake of victory, I make this appeal. But the loyal 
everywhere are allies to the soldier. 

LOYALTY. 

Does loyalty depend upon color ? Is it the skin or the heart which is 
consulted ? Do you ask the color of a benefactor ? As I listen to people 
who higgle on the question how to treat Africans who are all ready to cotne 
to our rescue, I am reminded of that famous incident, where the Emperor 
of Austria, driven back by the Turks, 100,000 strong, and besieged in Vi- 
enna, wliich was at the point of surrender, was suddenly saved by the gal- 
lant Sobieski of Poland. The Emperor, big with imperial pride, thought 
chiefly of his own supereminent position, — as a pro-slavery Democrat 
thinks of his, — and hesitated how to receive the Polish monarch, who 
was only a king, when one of his counsellors said to him, " Sire, receive 
him as the saviour of your capitol." But the Emperor hardly gave to his 
benefactor more than a cold salute ; and we are now asked to imitate this 
stolid ingratitude. 

THE AFRICAN RACE. 

Wherever I turn in this war I find the African. If you ask for strategy, 
I know nothing better than that of the slave Robert Small, who brought 
the rebel steamer Planter with its armament out of Charleston, and sur- 
rendered it to our Commodore as prize of war. If you ask for successful 
courage, I know nothing better than that of the African Tillman, who 
rose upon a rebel prize crew, and, overcoming them, carried the ship into 
New York. If you ask for heroism, you will find it in that nameless African, 
on board the Pawnee, who, while passing shell from the magazine, lost both 
his legs by a ball, but still holding the shell, cries out, " Pass up the shell — 
never mind me ; my time is up." And if you ask for fidelity, you will find 
it in that slave, also without a name, who pointed out the road of safety to 
the harassed, retreating army of the Potomac. And if you ask for evi- 
dence of the desire for freedom, you will find it in the little slave girl, 
journeying north, whom Banks took on his cannon. 

SLAVES MUST HELP. 

Not now for the first time do I make this appeal. As early as May 28th 
of this year, I offered the following resolution in the Senate : 

Resolved, That in the prosecution of the present war for the suppression 
of a wicked rebellion the time has come for the government of the United 



12 



States to appeal to the loyalty of the whole people everywhere, but espe- 
cially in the rebel districts, and to invite all, without distinction of color or 
class, to make their loyalty manifest by ceasing to fight or labor ibr the rebels, 
and also by rendering every assistance in their power to the cause of the 
Constitution and the Union, according to their ability, whether by arms, or 
labor, or information, or in any other way ; and since protection and alle- 
giance are reciprocal duties dependent upon each other, it is the further 
duty of the government of the United States to maintain all such loyal 
people, without distinction of color or class, in their rights as men, accord- 
ing to the principles of the Declaration of Independence. 

I do not stop to discuss this resolution. You know my opinions, «ind how 
I have pressed them in debate. 

But you do not know that I have never failed to present them in that 
quarter where it was most important that they should prevail. On the 4th 
July, in a personal interview with the President, I said : " You need more 
men, not only at the North, but at the South, in the rear of the rebels ; 
you need the slaves. Say the word, and you can give to our armies this 
invaluable alliance ; you can change the rear-guard of the rebellion into 
the advance-guard of the Union. It is now 4th July. You can make this 
day more sacred, and more historic, and do for it better than the Con- 
tinental Congress." Had that word been spoken at that time, I cannot 
doubt that the salvation of our country would have then begun. 

Of course such a word would have been a blast from the war trumpet, 
justified as a military necessity, according to the examples of history and 
the heart of man. And such a blast the President has now blown. 

HELP FROM SLAVES CONSTITUTIONAL. 

But it is said that all appeal to the slaves is unconstitutional ; and it is 
openly assumed that rebels who make war on the Constitution are not, like 
other public enemies, beyond its protection. But why this peculiar tender- 
ness whenever slavery is in cj[uestion '? Battalions may be shot down, and 
property may be taken without due process of law, but slavery must not be 
touched. The ancient Egyptians, when conquered, submitted easily to the 
loss of life and property ; but when a Roman soldier happened to kill a cat 
in the streets, they rose on him and tore him limb from limb, and the ex- 
citement was so violent that the generals overlooked the outrage for fear of 
insurrection. Slavery is our sacred cat, which cannot be touched without 
fear of insurrection. Sir, I am tired and disgusted at hearing the Constitu- 
tion perpetually invoked for slavery. According to certain persons, the 
Constitution is all for slavery and nothing for freedom. lam happy to say 
that with me just the reverse is the case. There are people who keep 
apothecaries' scales in which they nicely weigh everything that is done for 
freedom. I have no such scales where freedom is in question, nor do I 
hesitate to say, that in a case of freedom all such nicety is unconstitutional. 



13 



The Constitution is not mean, stingy and pettifogging, but it is open- 
handed, liberal and just, inclining always in favor of freedom, and enabling 
the government in time of war not only to exercise any of the rights of 
war, including the liberation of slaves, but also to confer any largess or 
bounty, it may be of money, or, better still, of freedom, for services ren- 
dered. I do not dwell now on the unanswerable argument by which John 
Quincy Adams has placed this power beyond question. "Whatever may be 
the provisions of the Constitution for the protection of the citizen, they are 
inapplicable to what is done against a public enemy. The law of an Italian 
city prohibited the letting of blood under penalty of death ; but this was 
held not to apply to the surgeon who opened a vein to save the life of a 
citizen. In war there is no constitutional limit to the activity of the Execu- 
tive, except the emergency. The safety of the people is the highest law. 
There is no blow which the President can strike, there is nothing he can 
do against the rebellion, which is not constitutional. Only inaction can 
be unconstitutional. 

JUSTIFIED BY HISTORIC PRECEDENTS. 

Search the writers on the law of nations, and you will find an appeal to 
the slaves justified. Search history, whether in ancient or modern times, 
and you will find it justified by examples. In our Eevolution the appeal 
was made by three different British commanders. Lord Dunmore, Sir 
Henry Chnton, and Lord Cornwallis. I do not stop for details. That this 
appeal was not unsuccessful is evident from the language of Washington 
with regard to Dunmore, of whom he did not hesitate to say that if he were 
not crushed before spring he would be the most formidable enemy the 
colonies had. " His strength will increase," said Washington, " as a snow- 
ball by rolling, and faster, if some expedient cannot be hit upon to convince 
the slaves and servants of the impotency of his designs." That such an 
APPEAL would be proper is admitted by Jefi"erson while describing his own 
individual losses from Cornwallis : " He destroyed all my growing crops 
and tobacco ; he burned all my barns, containing the same articles of last 
year ; having first taken what corn he wanted, he used, as was to be expect- 
ed, all my stock of cattle, sheep and hogs for the sustenance of his army, and 
carried off all the horses capable of service. He carried off also about thirty 

slaves. Had this been to give them freedom, he would have done right . 

From an estimate made at the time, on the best information I could collect, 
I suppose the State of Virginia lost under Lord Cornwallis's hands, that 
year, about thirty thousand slaves." — {Letter to Dr. Gordon.) It would be 
difficult to imagine testimony stronger. Here was a sufferer justly indig- 
nant for himself and his State ; but he does not doubt that an enemy would 
do riji;ht in carrying off slaves to give them freedom. 



14 



APPEAL TO SLAVES UNAVAILING THEN WHY NOT TRY? 

But admitting that an appeal to slaves in support of the Union is con- 
stitutional, and also according to the examples of history, it is said that ^t 
will be unavailing ; for the slaves will not hearken to it. Then why not 
try ? It can do no harm, and it will at least give us a good name. But 
if we are not beyond learning from the enemy, we shall see that the gen- 
erals most hated on our side, and, like Adams and Hancock in the Revolu- 
tion, specially excepted from pardon, are Phelps and Hunter; plainly be- 
cause the ideas of these generals were more feared than any battery or 
strategy. Of this be assured. The opponents of an appeal to the slaves 
are not anxious because it will fail. It is only because it may be successful 
that they oppose it. They fear that it will reach the slaves, rather than 
that it will not reach them. 

IT WILL TAKE EFFECT AMONG SLAVES — SLAVE TELEGRAPH. 

But look at it candidly and you cannot deny that it must produce an 
effect. It is idle to say that its influence will be bounded by our jurisdic- 
tion. When the mill-gates are lifted, all the water above, in its most dis- 
tant sources, hurries on its way ; and so will the slaves. Remote kingdoms 
. trembled at the Pope's excommunication and interdict ; and an elegant 
historian has described the thunders of the Vatican intermingling with the 
thunders of war. All Christendom shook when Luther nailed his proposi- 
tions on the church door of Wittemberg. But an apf)eal to our slaves will 
be hardly less prevailing. Do you ask how it would be known ? The slave 
telegraph is not as active as ours ; but it is hardly less sure. It takes eight 
days for a dispatch from Fortress Monroe to the Gulf of Mexico. The glad 
tidings of freedom will travel with the wind, with the air, with the light, 
and will gradually quicken and inspire the whole mass. Secret societies, 
already formed among the slaves, will be among the operators. That I do 
not speak without authority, I ask you to listen to the words of John 
Adams, taken from his diary, under date of 24th September, 1775 : — 

" The Georgia delegates give a melancholy account of the States of 
Georgia and South Carolina. They said if one thousand regular troops 
should land in Georgia, and their commander be furnislied with arms and 
clothes enough, and proclaim freedom to all the negroes who would join his 
camp, twenty thousand would join it from the two provinces in a fortnight. 
The negroes have a wonderful art of communicating intelligence among 
themselves. It will run several hundreds of miles in a week or fortnight." 
— Writings of John Adams, vol. viii. p. 420. 

This is testimony. The destructive avalanche of the Alps is sometimes 
started by the winding of a horn, and a structure so iri'ational as slavery 
will tremble at a sound. 



15 



SLAVES I<:NC0URAGED — MASTERS DISCOURAGED. 

From such an appeal two things mnst ensue. First, the slaves will be 
encouraged in loyalty ; and, secondly, the masters will be discouraged in 
disloyalty. Slave labor, which is the mainspring and nursery of rebel sup- 
plies, without which the rebellion must starve, will be disorganized, Avhile a 
panic spreads among slave-masters absent from their homes. The most au- 
dacious rebels wiU lose their audacity, and instead of hurrying forward to 
deal parricidal blows at their country, will hurry backward to defend their 
own firesides. The rebellion will lose its power. It will be hamstrung. 

PANIC AMONG MASTERS. 

That such a panic would ensue is attested by the confession of the South 
Carolina delegation in the old Continental Congress, as appears by its Se- 
cret Journal, under date of 29th March, 1779, that this State was '■'■unable 
to make any effective efforts with militia by reason of the great proportion 
of citizens necessary to remain at home to prevent Insurrection among the 
negroes, and to prevent the desertion of them to the enemy." It is attested 
also by the concurring testimony of southern men in other days ; especially 
in those remarkable words of John Randolph, that the fire-bell of Rich- 
mond does not toll at midnight without the mother clasping her infant to 
the breast, fearful that the slaves had risen. It is attested also by the 
actual condition of things when John Brown entered Virginia, as pictured 
In the familiar words : — 

He captured Harper's Ferry 

With his nineteen men so few, 
And he frightened Old Virginny 

Till she trembled through and through. 

In asserting the efficacy of this appeal, I ground myself on no visionary 
theories or vain hopes, but on the nature of man and authentic history. To 
doubt Its efficacy is to doubt that man Is man, with a constant desire for lib- 
erty as for life, and It is also to doubt the unquestionable instances in our own 
history where this desire has been displayed by African slaves. That a gov- 
ernment exposed to the assaults of a merciless barbarian foe should so long 
reject this irresistible alliance, is among the questions which will excite the 
astonishment of future ages. 

OBJECTIONS TO PROCLAMATION. 

Do you ask the reasons alleged against this appeal ? They all resolve 
themselves into objections of fact. The President, by his Proclamation, has 
already answered them practically ; but I will take them up in detail. 

BORDER STATES. 

(1 .) The first objection, and most often repeated, is one which it is difij- 



16 



cult to treat with patience. We are told that such an appeal will offend the 
Border States, and that, in this moment of trial, we must do as they tell us. 
It is of course slave-masters who speak for the Border States ; and permit 
me to say, such persons, continuing to swear by slavery, are not competent 
witnesses with regard to it. Believing in slavery, wedded to slavery, they 
are as incompetent to testify when it is In question, as husband and wife are 
incompetent to testify for each other. Just in proportion as we have fol- 
lowed them, thus far we have been misled, and we shall continue to be misled 
so long as we follow them. Their influence has been perpetual paralysis. 
Nobody can counsel safely at this moment who adheres to slavery, or who 
fails to see slavery as the origin and mainspring of the rebellion. It is well 
known that for a long time in England all the efforts against slavery, led by 
Wilberforce and Clarkson, were discountenanced and opposed by the slave- 
masters in the distant Islands. Be the proposition what it might, whether to 
abridge, to mitigate or ameliorate, there was always one steady dissent. Put 
not your trust in slave-masters ; do not hearken to their promises ; do not fol- 
low their counsels. Such is the plain lesson of English history, of French 
history, of Dutch history, of every country which has dealt with this 
question ; ay, of Russian history at this very moment ; and such also is the 
positive caution of English statesmen. On this point we have the concur- 
ring testimony of three names, each of whom is an authority. It is all em- 
bodied in a brief passage of a speech by Lord Brougham. 

" I entirely concur In the observation of Mr. Burke, repeated and more 
happily expressed by Mr. Canning, that the masters of slaves are not to be 
trusted with making laws upon slavery; that nothing tbey do is ever found 
cffeotlve ; and that If by some miracle they but chance to enact a wholesome 
regulation, it is always found to want what Mr. Burke calls the executory 
principle ; it fails to execute itself." 

These are emphatic words ; and as often as I am reminded of the opinions 
of slave-masters on our present duties, when slavery is In question, I think 
of them as a solemn warning, confirmed by all the teachings of experience, 
early and late, in our own country. 

OFFICERS WILL FLING DOWN ARMS. 

(2.) Another objection to this appeal is that officers in our army will fling 
down their arms. Very well. Let the traitors fling down their arms ; the 
sooner the better. They are unworthy to bear arms, and should be delivered 
up to the hissing and execration of mankind. But I will not dishonor offi- 
cers with the commission of the United States by such an imputation on 
their loyalty or common sense. As officers, they must know their duty too 
well, and, as intelligent men, they must know that the slaves are calculated 
to be their best and surest allies. 



n 



"side issue." 
(3.) Another objection is, that slavery is a " side issue," which must not 
be touched until the war is ended. But these wise objectors forget that it is 
precisely in order to end the war that slavery is to be touched, and that when 
they oppose this effort they make a " side issue " in behalf of slavery, calcu- 
lated to weaken the national arm. 

SLAVE INSURRECTION. 

(4.) Another objection has its origin in pity, that the rebels may be 
saved from a slave insurrection. God forbid that I should fail in any duty of 
humanity, or tenderness even ; but I know no principle of war or of reason 
by which our rebels should be saved from the natural consequences of their 
own conduct. When they rose against a paternal government, they set the 
example of insurrection, which has carried death to so many firesides. They 
cannot complain if their slaves, with better reason, follow it. It is according 
to an old law, that bloody inventions return to plague the inventor. But 
this whole objection proceeds on a mistaken idea of the African slave. The 
story of St. Domingo, so often quoted against him, testifies to his humanity. 
It was only when Napoleon, in an evil hour, sought to re-enslave him, that 
those scenes of blood occurred which exhibit less the cruelty of the slave 
than the atrocious purposes of the white man. The African is not cruel, 
vindictive or harsh ; but gentle, forgiving, and kind. Such is authentic his- 
tory. Nor does it appear, when the slaves left their masters, on the appeal of 
the British commanders, during our Revolution, that they were guilty of any 
excess. It is true that labor was disorganized, and the whole community 
•weakened ; and this is what we seek to accomplish in our rebel States. 

SLAVES WILL OVERFLOW NORTH. 

(5.) And yet one more objection is sometimes advanced. It is said that 
an appeal to the slaves will cause them to overflow into the North, where 
they will compete with other labor. This ill-considered and trivial objection 
subordinates the suppression of the rebellion to a question of labor, and thus 
diverts attention by a " side issue " from the great object at heart. But it 
becomes absurd when you consider, as every candid observer must admit, 
that no such objection can arise. There is no danger of any such overflow 
into the North. It is precisely the pressure of slavery, and not the license 
of freedom, that now causes the overflow that occurs. If slavery were re- 
moved, the Africans would flow back instead of overflowing here. The 
South is their natural home, and there they will go when justice at last 
prevails. 

OBJECTIONS ALL ANSWERED. 

Such are the objections of fact, so far as any exist within my knowledge. 
If any other has been made, I do not know it. I ask you frankly, have I 
not answered them ? 



SUCCESS ONLY THROUGH EMANCIPATION. 

But, fellow-citizens, I shall not leave the argument at this stage. It is not 
enough to show that slaves can render us important assistance, by labor, by 
information, or by arms, and that there is no reasonable objection to calling 
upon them, with other loyalists, in support of the Union. The case is 
stronger still. Without the aid of the slaves this war cannot be ended success- 
fidly. Their alliance is, therefore, a necessity. In making this assertion, I 
know well the responsibility I assume ; nor do I assume it lightly. But the 
time has come when the truth must be told. Let me be understood. War is 
proverbially uncertain, and I will not doubt that fortune will again light upon 
our arms. The force of the rebellion may be broken,- even without an ap- 
peal to the slaves. But I am sure that with the slaves our victory will be 
more prompt, while without them it can never be effectual — completely to 
crush out the rebellion. It is not enough to beat armies. Rebel communi- 
ties, envenomed against the Union, must be reclaimed, and a wide-spread 
region must be pacified. This can be done only by the removal of the cause 
of all this trouble, and the consequent assimilation of the people, so that no 
man shall call another master. If slavery be regarded as a disease, it must 
be extirpated by knife and cautery, for only in this way can the healthful 
operations of national life be restored. If it be regarded as a motive, it 
must be expelled from the system, that it may no longer exercise its disturb- 
ing influence. So long as slavery continues, the States in which it exists 
will fly madly from the Union ; but with the destruction of slavery, they 
will lose all such motive, and will rather prefer to nestle under its wing. 
The Slave States, by the influence of slavery, are now centrifugal ; but 
with slavery out of the system, these States will be centripetal. Such is the 
present law of their being. And it should be the policy of the government 
at this time to take advantage of this law, for the benefit of the Union. Nay, 
from the necessity of the case, this should be done. 

FIRE IN THE REAR. 

A united people cannot be conquered. Defeated on the battle-field, they 
will remain sullen and revengeful, ready for another rebellion. This is the 
lesson of history. Even Hannibal, after crushing in the field all the armies 
of Rome, and ranging at will throughout Italy, was obliged to confess the in- 
adequacy of his triumphs, and he appealed for help to the subjects of Rome, 
exciting them to insurrection, and arousing them against the Roman power. ' 
To this long-cherished plan were directed all the energies which he could 
spare from battle ; believing that in this way his enemy could be brought 
. under a double fire. From the beginning of our war we have assumed, as 
an element of strength, the presence in the Slave States of large numbers 
devoted to the Union, who would be ready at the proper moment to co- 
operate with the national forces. It is true that the people of the Slave 



19 



States are not united, and that among them there are large numbers ready 
at call to uphold the Union ; but most of these faithful Unionists are not 
white. The Unionists of the South are black. Let these be rallied, and the 
rebellion will be exposed not only to a fire in front, but also to a fire in the 
rear. The two together are necessary to the operations of war. The Union 
army thus far is like a single blade of a pair of scissors, which, though of 
choicest steel with sharpest edge, must be comparatively useless. Let the 
other blade be conjoined, and the instrument will be perfect, warranted to 
cut. The scissors of fate could not cut more surely. 

EFFECTIVE FINALITY OP THE WAR. 

Is not our duty clear ? And is not the President completely vindicated ? 
By Emancipation we not only hasten the war to a close, but we give it 
that effective Jinality which will prevent it from breaking forth anew, and 
which can be obtained in no other way. The head of the hydra will be 
destroyed, and its root exterminated, so that it cannot show itself again. 
Without Emancipation the whole contest is delivered over to present un- 
certainty, while the future is left to glare with all the horrors of civil strife 
unsuppressed. There is a chapter of Don Quixote entitled " A Conclusion 
in which Nothing is Concluded ; " and this will be the proper title for the 
history of this war if slavery is allowed to endure. If you would trample 
down the rebellion, you must trample down slavery, and, believe me, it 
must be completely done. Among the terrible pictures in the immortal 
poem of Dante, where crime on earth is portrayed in so many fearful pun- 
ishments, is that of Caiaphas, the high priest of the Jews, who, as a penalty 
for his sacrifice of the Saviour, was stretched on the floor of hell, where 
all who passed must tread on him. 

Naked athwart the pathway he must lie, 

Condemned, as thou perceivest, to undergo 
The weight of every one who passes by. 

Such should be the final fate of slavery, naked and dishonored, stretched 
where all may tread upon It. Never could the rights of war be employed 
more justly than to create this doom. 

PROCLAMATION THE HERALD OF PEACE. 

It was easy to see, from the beginning, that this rebellion had its origin 
in slavery ; that without slavery it never could have broken forth ; that, 
when begun, it was continued only through slavery ; that slavery was at 
once the curse that maddened, the principle that governed, and the power 
that sustained; and the oligarchy of slave-masters, three hundred and fifty 
thousand all told, were the criminals through whom all this direful wicked- 
ness was organized and waged. Such is the unquestionable diagnosis of 
the case, which history wiU recognize, and which a wise statesmanship 



20 



must have seen promptly. Not to see slavery in this guilty character was 
a mistake, and grievously have we answered for it. All are agreed now 
that Buchanan played into the hands of the rebellion, when, declaring 
that there can be no coercion of a State, he refused to touch the rebellion. 
Alas ! alas ! We, too, may play into the hands of the rebellion when, out 
of strange and incomprehensible forbearance, we refuse to touch slavery, 
which is the very life of the rebellion. Pardon these allusions, which I 
make in no spirit of criticism, but simply that I may accumulate new mo- 
tives for that Proclamation, which I rejoice to welcome as the herald of 
peace. 

" GENERAL " EMANCIPATION IS THE BEST GENERAL. 

There are many generals already in the field, — upwards of thirty major- 
generals and two hundred brigadiers ; but meritorious and brave as they 
may be, there is a general better than all, whom the President promises to 
commission, — I mean General Emancipation. 

FORCE ALONE CANNOT CONQUER "WITHOUT IDEAS. 

It is common to speak of God as on the side of the heavy battalions. 
Whatever may be the truth of this saying, it does not contain the whole 
truth. Heavy battalions are something ; but they are not everything. 
Even if they prevail on the battle-field, which is not always the case, the 
victory which they compel is not final. It is impotent to secure that tran- 
quillity which is essential to national life. Mind is above matter ; right is 
more than force ; and it is vain to attempt to conquer merely by matter or 
by force. If this can be done in small affairs, it cannot in large affairs, for 
these will yield only to moral influences. Napoleon was the great master 
of war, and yet, from his utterances at St. Helena, the legacy of his tran- 
scendent experience, comes this confession, — " The more I study the world 
the more am I convinced of the inability of brute force to create anything 
durable." And another Frenchman, of subtle thought and perfect integ- 
rity, whose name is linked forever with American institutions, de Tocque- 
ville, has paid a similar tribute to truth. " Force," says he, " is never more 
than a transient element of success. A government which should only be 
able to crush its enemies on the field of battle would very soon be de- 
stroyed." Surely, in these authoritative words of the warrior and the 
thinker, there is a warning to us not to put trust in batteries or bayonets, 
while an unconquerable instinct makes us all confess that might does not 
constitute right. 

Let the war end on the battle-field alone, and it will be only in appear- 
ance that it will end, not in reality. Time will be gained for new efforts, 
and slavery will coil itself to spring again. The rebellion may seem to be 
vanquished, and yet it will triumph. The Union may seem to conquer, 
and yet it will succumb. The republic may seem to be saved, and yet it 



21 



will be lost, — handed over a prey to that injustice which, so long as it 
exists, must challenge the judgments of a righteous God. 

PEACE THROUGH FREEDOM. 

Thus, for the sake of peace, which we all desire, do I now plead for 
freedom, through which alone peace can be secured. Are you earnest for 
peace, then must you be earnest for freedom also. Would you uphold the 
Union against treason, then must you uphold freedom, without which 
bloody treason will flourish over us. But freedom has been adopted by 
Congress and proclaimed by the President as one of the agencies in the 
prosecution of the war. Therefore, it must be maintained with all our 
souls and all our hearts and all our minds. The hour of debate has passed ; 
the hour of duty has sounded. In opposing solemn acts of Congress, 
which, according to the Constitution, are now the supreme law of the land, 
passed for the national defence ; in opposing the Proclamation of the Presi- 
dent ; nay, in discouraging freedom, you are as bad as if you discouraged 
enlistments. It is through freedom, as well as the arms of our soldiers, 
that the war will be waged ; and the same loyalty which supports the one 
is now due to the other. The discouragement of enlistments is recognized 
as seditious and traitorous ; but the discouragement of this other force, 
adopted by the government for the suppression of the rebellion, is only 
another form of sedition and treason, which an indignant patriotism will 
spurn. Emancipation is now a war measure, and it must be sustained as 
you sustain an army in the field. 

" LET MY PEOPLE GO." 

If the instincts of patriotism did not prompt this support, I should find a 
sufficient motive in that duty which we all owe to the Supreme Ruler, God 
Almighty, whose visitations upon our country are now so fearful. Not 
rashly would I make myself the interpreter of his will ; and yet I am not 
blind. According to a venerable maxim of jurisprudence, AVhoso would 
have equity must do equity ; and God plainly requires equity at our 
hands. We cannot expect success while we set at naught this requirement, 
proclaimed in his divine character, in the dictates of reason and in the 
examples of history ; proclaimed, also, in all the events of this protracted 
war. Great judgments have fallen upon the country ; plagues have been 
let loose ; rivers have been turned into blood, and there is a great cry 
throughout the land, for there is not a house where there is not one dead ; 
and at each judgment we seem to hear that terrible voice which sounded 
in the ears of Pharoah, — " Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, 
Let my people go, that they may serve me." I know not how others are 
touched ; but I cannot listen to the frequent tidings of calamity to our 
arms, of a noble soldier lost to his country, of a bereavement in a 



22 



family, of a youthful son brought home dead to his motlier, without 
catching the warning, " Let my people go." Nay, every wound, every 
sorrow, every hardship, — all that we are compelled to bear in taxation, in 
want, in derangement of business, has a voice saying, " Let my people go." 

WAR CHANGED IN CHARACTER, NOT IN OBJECT. 

And now, thank God, the word has been spoken ; a greater word was 
never spoken. Emancipation has begun, and our country is already elevated 
and glorified. The war in which we are now engaged has not changed in 
object, but it has changed in character. Its object now, as at the beginning, 
is simply to put down the rebellion ; but its character is derived from the new 
force at last enlisted, which must not only stamp itself upon all that is done, 
but absorb the whole war to itself, even as the rod of Aaron swallowed up all 
other rods. Vain will it be again to delude European nations into the foolish 
beUef that slavery has nothing to do with the war ; that it is a war for 
empire on one side, and independence on the other ; and that all generous 
ideas are on the side of the rebellion. And vain also will be that other 
European cry, whether from an intemperate press or the cautious lips of 
statesmen, that separation is inevitable, and that our government is doomed 
to witness the dismemberment of the Republic. With this new alliance, all 
such forebodings will be falsified ; the wishes of the fathers will be fulfilled, 
and those rights of human nature, which were the declared object of our 
Revolution, will be vindicated. Thus inspired, the sword of Washington — 
that sword which, according to his last will and testament, was to be drawn 
only in self-defence, or in defence of country and its rights — will once more 
marshal our armies of victory, while our flag, wherever it floats, will give 
freedom to all beneath its folds, and its proud inscription will be at last tri- 
umphantly verified, " Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and in- 
separable." 

WAR FOR ALL MANKIND. 

But, fellow-citizens, the war which we wage is not merely for ourselves ; 
it is for all mankind. Slavery yet lingers in Brazil, and beneath the Span- 
ish flag in those two golden possessions, Cuba and Porto Rico ; but nowhere 
can it survive its extinction here. Therefore, we conquer for liberty every- 
where. In ending slavery here we open its gates all over the world, and 
let the oppressed go free. Nor is this all. In saving the Republic we shall 
save civilization. Man throughout his long pilgrimage on earth has been 
compelled to suffer much ; but slavery is the heaviest burden which he has 
been called to bear; it is the only burden which our country has been 
called to bear. Let it drop, and our happy country, with humanity in its 
train, all changed in raiment and in countenance, like the Christian Pil- 
grim, will hurry upward to the celestial gate. If thus far our example has 



23 



failed, it is simply because of slavery. It was vain to proclaim our unpar- 
alleled prosperity, the comfort diffused among a numerous people, resour- 
ces -without stint, or even the education of our children ; the enemies of 
the Republic simply said, " There is slavery," and our example became 
powerless. But let slavery disappear, and the same example will be of 
irresistible might. Without firing a gun or writing a dispatch, it will revo- 
lutionize the world. 

Therefore the battle which we now fight belongs to the grandest events 
of history. It constitutes one of those epochs from which humanity wiU 
date. It is one of the battles of the ages ; as when the millions of Persia 
were hurled back from Greece, or when the Mahomedans, victors in Africa 
and Spain, were hurled back from France by Charles Martel, and Western , 
Europe was saved to Christianity. In such a cause no effort can be too 
great, no faith can be too determined. To die for country is pleasant and 
honorable. But all who die for country now, die also for humanity. 
Wherever they he, in bloody fields, they will be remembered as the heroes 
through whom the Republic was saved and civilization established forever. 

But there are duties elsewhere than in bloody conflict. Each of us in 
his place at home, by his best efforts, can do something, not only to sustain 
the soldier in the field, but also to sustain that sublime edict, which will be 
to the soldier both sword and buckler, while it gives to the conflict all the 
grandeur of a great idea. In this hour of trial let none of us fail. Above 
all, let none of us go over to the enemy, even should his tents for a mo- 
ment be pitched in Faneuil Hall ; and do not forget that there can be but 
two parties, the party of the country, with the President for its head, and 
witli Emancipation for its glorious watchword ; and the party of the re- 
beUion, with Jefferson Davis for its head, and no other watchword than 
Slavery. 



